May 4th Mortgage Industry Update
May 4th, 2021 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on April 21st that its overnight lending rate will remain at 0.25%. The prime rate remains 2.45%. The Bank of Canada suggests that they will more than likely keep rates at this “effective lower bound” until the later half of 2022 now, as they observe the country’s faster than expected recovery from COVID-19.
Additionally this week:
– National Bank of Canada Chief Executive Officer Louis Vachon said the country should consider ending the blind bidding process to cool the nation’s housing market while also studying broader pandemic-related factors that may be driving the recent home-price surge.
– Statistics Canada: New home prices across Canada jumped by 1.1% last month, as prices remained elevated in 23 of the 27 census metropolitan areas. The largest monthly increase was in Charlottetown, where prices rose by 3.4%.
– TRREB: Number of condominiums sold in Toronto metropolitan area surged 80% in Q1 compared to 2020. The average selling price was down 1.4% from a year ago to about $645,000. Rent for a one-bedroom unit declined 17% to $1,820 a month, while two-bedroom rent fell 13% to $2,447.
– Avison Young: Q1 total sales of office, industrial, retail, multi-residential, and ICI land assets valued at, or greater than, $1 M across GTA amounted to $3.9 B, a mere 3% quarter-over-quarter decline and a significant 39% annual increase. Marked best Q1 reading since 2018.
– Canada’s central bank will begin considering an interest-rate increase in the second half of next year instead of waiting until 2023, an important shift necessitated by a dramatic revision in the strength of the economy’s recovery from the COVID-19-induced recession.
– The annual pace of inflation jumped higher in March due in large part to a plunge in prices a year ago at the start of the pandemic. Statistics Canada said index in March was up 2.2% annually. The increase compared with a 1.1% year-over-year increase in February.
– Urbanation: Were nearly 12,000 condo leases signed during Q1, up 70% annually. Condo rental listings declined by 12% from Q4 2020, helped ratio of leases to listings improve to 61%. Vacancy rate now stands at 6.6%, up from 1.1% at this point in 2020.
– Recent CIBC survey finds that 77% of homeowners say the pandemic has not changed their intentions of staying put, with many choosing to use their accumulated savings to renovate their current property rather than list it.
– A provision in the latest budget proposal by the Liberal government will impose a new tax (1%) aimed at foreign owners of Canadian residential real estate, should the budget get passed. Will cover vacant or underused “non-resident, non-Canadian owned residential real estate”.
Stay tuned for the next update!
For any questions and concerns please do not hesitate to call Harpreet Singh The Mortgage King at (416) 795-1919.
